There was once a time when women were somewhat marginalized in a society that was heavily slanted towards men’s needs and concerns. While incidences of discrimination against women remain fairly commonplace, there have been a few strides made in the quest to have women more heavily involved in various aspects of society. This is particularly noticeable in the online world, where the democratization of the collective online experience has given women a more prominent role than they have previously enjoyed otherwise.

Blogging is one specific area wherein women are finally able to stand toe-to-toe with men. There are literally thousands of blogs online at any given moment, and they are comprised of countless thousands of potential customers. As prevalent an Internet phenomenon as blogging is, it is made even richer by the greater involvement of women.

Women have always been known to be community-oriented, which is why it’s no surprise that women more frequently use social networks. This study details how women use social media and what they look at and are looking for. Read on to find out how you can tune your marketing strategy to appeal to this niche. – WST

By: Julie Kent

SheSpeaks.com conducted a great survey of women’s online and computer habits, and published the results in a comprehensive 65-page document. It’s a fascinating study that looks mainly at women’s social habits online, and most definitely has implications for online marketing. Looking at the results of this study can help you tailor your marketing campaigns to effectively, rather than ineffectively, reach out to women.

Shopping & Social

Not surprisingly, the top activity for women online is shopping. The third most popular activity is social networking, which is also not a surprise given the stereotype that women just love to talk. The fact that both of these activities are very popular with women means that there is also some cross-over issues to consider. If women like to shop online, they’re likely to talk about that online and there are probably certain kinds of marketing tactics that will work better with them.

One of the first very obvious things that this study shows is that women of all ages are very active in social networks. Younger women are more active and have more contacts than older women, but a sizeable number of 40+ are taking advantage of social networking, and in some cases are more engaged than their younger peers.

Making up half the world’s population, “women” is a pretty large group. Within that group, then, you’d expect some different patterns of behavior to emerge. The biggest differences can be seen in different age groups – under 30’s and 40-somethings on up. With most 30 and unders having grown up with computers, it’s not surprising.

Key Findings of the Study

Here are some of the key findings for the two groups:

Younger women:

* Are more likely to say “connect with others” as top online activity (73%), compared to 40+ women (31%).
* Are more likey to look at consumer generated content (28%) than 40+ (10%).
* Are more likely to have profiles. 86% of 30 & under have profiles.
* Facebook and MySpace are most popular (78% and 79%)
* LinkedIn is more popular with high earners (41% for HHI $120K+ vs. 17% overall)

Older women are:

* 45% of 40+ have profiles.
* More active than younger women on Classmates (42% vs 19% for <30s).
* Facebook and MySpace are most popular (65% and 63%)
* LinkedIn is more popular with high earners (41% for HHI $120K+ vs. 17% overall)

None of those findings are really all that earth-shattering. Perhaps most surprising, however, is the high numbers of older women (40+) that are using social networks. It appears that while a majority of women join these networks to “connect” or “reconnect” (61% and 66%), there are also other factors at play. Younger women are most likely to join connect, reconnect, and share photos. A high proportion of older women, on the otherhand, join to keep an eye on their kids’ online activites, especially those with children ages 13 to 17.

Women aren’t just signing up and forgetting about their profiles and connections either. Half of all women log into social networks everyday. Two-thirds of under 30’s log-in daily, and 41% of 40+ log-in daily.

So what do Women do on Social Networks?

When you get a bunch of women together, who most enjoy shopping online and talking, what exactly do they talk about? 62% of all women talk about products, and 71% of those with children ages 13 to 17 talk about products. What kind of products do they talk about? The most talked about category of products on social networks by women is beauty products. After that food/restaurants and movies/entertainment were also popular, especially amongst younger women.

How do women feel about ads?

Women generally do not have good feelings about ads. 26% said they actively ignore ads, and another 20% said they are annoyed by ads. A few notice interesting ads once in awhile, but only about 2% ever actually click on an ad.

It’s true, women make up 85% of the purchase decisions in the U.S. This information is key to any and every marketer. With Mother’s Day gone and Father’s Day on the rise, perhaps it’s time to pay attention to what women are doing on the web. – WST

Women keep their personal lives and business lives very separate when it comes to social media, according to the 2009 Women in Social Media Study by BlogHer, iVillage, and Compass Partners. While women consider blogs great sources of information, especially regarding purchases, the vast majority of women use social networks solely for keeping in touch with family and friends.

Over half (55%) of the women surveyed in said they participate in some kind of blog activity (publishing, posting comments, reading), and 53% use social networks.

But here’s the kicker: Women use social networks in the purest sense only; 75% use them to keep in touch with friends and family, and not so much as information sources or for making purchase decisions. That’s a major insight considering this is the half of population making 85% of purchase decisions in the US.

In contrast, women rely more on blogs for the business of life, and are twice as likely to use blogs than social networks as an information source (64%), for advice and recommendations (43%), and opinion sharing (55%). Women are 50% more likely to use social networks merely as a means of keeping in touch.

A third of those participating in social networks are loyal to just one and do no other social media activities on a weekly basis. There are likely infinite reasons for that, but it sheds a rather harsh light on why only 20% of women appear to use Twitter.

It could mean that most want all of the networking under one roof for convenience, and only desire one-to-many communication if it involves people they know and trust. It could also mean that Twittering is still considered a medium for celebrities, politicians, and digital hipsters; the survey found that women who themselves blog are significantly more active across all forms of social media.